Leonard Curtis adds two Business Development Managers

31 December 2020 Consultancy.uk 3 min. read
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As the firm looks to provide more support to its clients in difficult times, Leonard Curtis Business Solutions Group has appointed Joanne Tipper and Sarah Gaskin as Business Development Managers. Tipper has 20 years of experience in the hotel and hospitality industry while Gaskin has spent the last five years working in event management. 

Dan Booth, a Director at Leonard Curtis, said of the dual appointment, “We’re delighted to welcome Jo and Sarah to the team. They have some fantastic sector experience and great energy to bring at a time of considerable economic strain for business owners. Both know how to build meaningful relationships with people, which is at the heart of this role, and we wish them every success.”

The appointments help bolster Leonard Curtis’ Lifecycle offering; a unique network for accountants which enables professional services specialists to reach clients across the UK. Based in the firm’s newly launched Chester office and Manchester city centre UK headquarters, the pair will work with accountants in the North West – with Joanne Tipper covering Chester and North Wales, and Sarah Gaskin working across Manchester city centre and as far South as Warrington and Stoke.

Joanne Tipper and Sarah Gaskin, Leonard Curtis

Tipper has spent more than two decades in the hospitality industry, and was most recently Sales Manager with The Chester Grosvenor. She has previously held a string of other senior sales roles in the sector, having studied Hospitality Management at Staffordshire University.

She commented on her new role, “This is a change of direction for me, and I am excited about combining my 20 years in business with outreach to accountants in Chester and North Wales. Obviously I have much to bring to a hospitality sector in serious distress at the moment and will draw on my experience, listening carefully and connecting accountants to the right advisory service to help them steer their clients through to recovery.”

Gaskin meanwhile arrives from having spent the first half of 2020 as an Executive Assistant with HWL Ebsworth Lawyers in Australia – but before that she held a number of roles in the event management industry. This included positions with VIP Ski in France, and Nottingham Bespoke Events in the UK. She holds a Degree in Psychology and Cognitive neuroscience from the University of Nottingham.

Speaking on her appointment, Gaskin noted, “I am looking forward to getting started at Leonard Curtis. I come from a family who run an accountancy business, so have been around the industry all my life, but this is my first real role in it. It is a very tough time for businesses at the moment and I will be doing the same as Jo, getting to know people and problem solving where we can.”

Having celebrated its 25th year in business earlier in 2020, Leonard Curtis Business Solutions Group is a professional services provider best known for its work as an insolvency specialist. The firm began life in Bury as the insolvency division of a regional  accountancy practice, but has since gone on to employ over 240 people across 19 regional offices – including London and Guernsey – as an independent firm.